Gender perspectives on water supply and sanitation:
Towards a sustainable livelihoods and ecosystem-based approach to sanitationi
Carolyn Hannan
Ingvar Andersson
Water supplies and sanitation in the context of sustainable livelihoods
Achievement of sustainable development requires attention to the securing of sustainable
livelihoods and poverty reduction. Prmotion of sustainable livelihoods has to be based on a holistic
framework which takes into account the total environment in which individuals, households and
communities operate. This includes the natural environment (natural resources), the built environment
(infrastructure and services), the economic and political environment and the socio-cultural environment
(regulatory mechanisms, rights frameworks, etc.) which influence the management and distribution of
resources and services. An important element in this framework is the interaction of individuals,
households and communities with all parts of their environments and the impact of this interaction on the
total environment. Issues of rights, access to and control over resources and services and potential to
take decisions on critical issues related to livelihoods are integral to sustainable development and poverty
reduction strategies.
Water supplies and sanitation are critical elements in a sustainable livelihoods strategy, being
directly related to issues of access to and control over natural resources as well as basic infrastructure
and services. Freshwater is a scarce resource and unless drastic improvements in water use efficiency
and pollution control occur, 4 billion people – half the world's population - will live in countries with high
water stress by year 2025 (Cosgrove and Rijsberman, 2000). Most of the affected countries are located in
the South and poor people will be the main victims. Land degradation, loss of soil fertility and declining
crop productivity are other threats to sustainable livelihoods for the South. At present more than 800
million people, 15 percent of the world population and predominantly women and children, get less than
2,000 calories a day (ibid). The present situation with regard to water supply and sanitation is alarming.
Recent estimates indicate that 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe water in adequate supply for
household use (WHO/UNICEF/WSSCC, 2000). In addition, it is estimated that around 2.4 billion people
today lack adequate sanitation (ibid). Nearly three million children, five years of age or younger, die of
diarrhoea annually (Esrey and Andersson, 1999).
Sucessful improvements to water supplies and sanitation requires an understanding of the
interconnectedness of water and sanitation. It is well established today that the benefits of water supply
will not be forthcoming unless attention is also given to sanitation (Andersson, 1996). And there is
growing awareness that improvements to sanitation can bring greater health benefits than improvements
to water supply (Esray, 1996 and 1991; UNICEF, 1993). There is also greater recognition of the fact that
inadequate improvements to sanitation can be worse than no improvements at all, particularly in the case
of sanitation approaches which use scarce freshwater resources and risk contaminating water sources. A
maxim gaining popularity is: Never consider water without sanitation and always consider sanitation with
water (ibid).
It is important to bring gender perspectives to the centre of attention in development of strategies
to promote sustainable livelihoods and poverty reduction. Such strategies cannot succeed if they leave
out the perceptions, knowledge, contributions, needs and priorities of 50 percent of the population, i.e.
women and girls. Historically, work on sustainable development has not given systematic attention to
gender perspectives. Approaches have often been focused on community level, and even when the
household level is addressed there is a persistent tendency to presume that households are cohesive
units based on principles of solidarity and complementarity. Possible conflict of interests and competition
within households, including between women and men, are ignored along with critical issues of equity
and powerii.
There is a serious lack of attention to relevant gender perspectives in much of the research on
water and sanitation and in critical policy and strategy developments at global, regional, national and local
2
levelsiii. Innovative research is, however, being done on gender and sustainable development, including in
the area of water supply and sanitation. Work by Agarwall and Narain (undated) has documented
successful community-based management of natural resources in India where rainwater harvesting led to
eco-restoration and poverty alleviation. Their report directly links the acheivements made to the
identification and addressing of equity issues. It was argued that gender equality was a factor of critical
importance to ecological regeneration programmes. Unfortunately, much of the research on gender
perspectives on natural resource management, including on water supply and sanitation, has had far too
little impact on policy and strategy development.
Improvements to water supply and sanitation
A number of failings in the approach to improvements to water supply and sanitation over the past
few decades have been identified.iv A major failing in many of the earliest programmes was the
dependence on highly sophisticated technology. The focus was on uses of water rather than on users
and this resulted in a lack of focus on people - women and men and girls and boys – in the development
of the policies and programmes. There was little consultation, poor levels of participation and the realities
and needs of women and men were not taken into account in planning. There has, however, been a
serious effort over the past two decades to move towards more community-based approaches, shifting
from centrally- to locally managed programmes, and including improvements to traditional approaches
(Andersson, 1996; Andersson et al, 1991). Unfortunately this positive development has not always
adequately incorporated gender perspectives.
A second problem in working with water supplies and sanitation was the high level of
compartmentalization in the sector. Management of water resources was organized along narrow sectoral
lines with different sub-sectors, such as household water supplies, irrigation, flood control, wetlands
preservation, fisheries, coastal management and hydro-electric power developed through separate
policies, strategies and even managed by separate independent agencies. Investments in these subsectors, carried out in isolation, do not tackle the root causes of problems of water resource management.
These problems or challenges are rarely solely connected to absolute resource constraints, but are often
closely linked to socio-cultural, economic, political and institutional factors which govern the ways water
resources are utilized and managed, as well as the extent to which different groups in society are able to
gain access to water resources for their specific needs. An important development during the last decade
has thus been the emergence of a more holistic view of water management, even though the linkages to
other sectors, such as health, agriculture, education and transport, are still too weak. A related major shift
has involved the recognition that the perception of water as a free good led, in many cases, to unjust
allocations, wastage and environmental problems. Water resources management must be based on the
perception of water as both a finite and vulnerable resource. A persistent problem is, however, the failure
to understand the improvements to water supply and sanitation as a process of social change, thus
requiring a strong focus on the users and the identification of both women and men as actors and change
agents in the process.
It is difficult to generalize on the gender perspectives in relation to improvements to water supply
and sanitation, given that women and men are not homogenous groups and gender relations are very
context-specific. Some generic findings have, however, emerged over the past few decades. At a general
level, in many parts of the South women have less access to education and other resources such as
extension services and credit; have heavier work burdens; are more constrained by poor health; have a
lower social status; and are poorly represented in decision-making at both household and community
levels. There are often considerable differences and inequalities between women and men in terms of the
potential for having their voices heard and making viable choices on important issues in their lives. In
relation to water supply and sanitation, it is well accepted that women and men usually make different,
and sometimes unequal, contributions to water and sanitation management at household level and
community level in the Southv. Women collect water for household use and manage water in the
households, in the sense of ensuring an adequate supply and keeping it clean while stored in the house.
Women also often play key community management roles in relation to domestic water supply at
community level in many areas, in some cases including construction and maintenance of traditional
sources, although these roles are less well documented. Women's actual and potential roles in promoting
3
more sustainable use and management of water resources at both household and community levels are
not well understood or built upon.
The gender perspectives on sanitation are less well established. While men in most areas in the
South do the construction of latrines, women are usually responsible for keeping them clean and useable.
Women assist children, the aged and the sick with their hygiene and sanitation needs. Women also take
the main responsibility for socializing children into the use of latrines and for providing health/hygiene
education for children. Women's perceptions, needs and priorities in relation to sanitation can be quite
different from men's. Research in East Africa indicated that safety (particularly for children) and privacy
were the main concerns of women. Women wanted to be sure that their children would not fall into the
holes and they wanted doors which could be closed to prevent passers-by from looking in (HannanAndersson, 1984). What men want in relation to sanitation has never been adequately assessed.
Sanitation programmes, as with many other development programmes, have been built around
assumptions on some sort of "gender-neutral" person who does not exist in reality. Men's interests, needs
and priorities in relation to sanitation may well be as neglected as women's.
Last, but not least, ecological sanitation should be promoted more widely in the interests of the
girl-child. The rights of the girl-child, which have been in focus since the Beijing Conference in 1995, vi
should include access to appropriate and adequate sanitation. It is against human dignity and wellbeing
that girls in some parts of the world have to face a lifetime of the discomfort, lack of privacy, indignity, illhealth and other risks associated with systems where they are forced to urinate and defecate in open
sites away from the community and only at specific limited times.vii It has also been known for some time
that lack of adequate sanitation facilities, in particular from a privacy perspective, has implications for the
education of girls. Parents are reluctant to send their girls to school in some parts of the world where
school-level sanitation is inadequate. Experience from Tanzania in the 1980s revealed that parents
sometimes took their girls out of primary school altogether because of poor sanitation facilities. In other
cases girls' schooling was irregular because they could not go to school during menstration, due to
inadequate facilities.viii
Attention to gender perspectives in water and sanitation programmes has often been limited to
analysis of women's contributions relative to men's, and the impacts on women in terms of anticipated
benefits, within the framework of the existing division of responsibilities. The status quo in relation to
roles, resources and power has been accepted as given. Emphasis has been on women as a group
rather than on the relations between women and men, including the division of labour, access to and
control over resources and decision-making (Hannan, 2000). The strategy to increase women's
involvement in water supply and sanitation improvements has focused on increasing women's
participation at the project level. Often the type of participation encouraged has been determined by the
perception of women as only having "domestic" consumer roles. Despite the role of women in hygiene
and sanitation at household level, latrine construction programmes which provide income-generation
opportunities in communities often presume that only men will be interested in, or suited to, involvement
in training programmes and credit schemes established to develop entrepreneurship in this area. The
management roles of women have been ignored as well as the possibilities and need for bringing women
into more political discussions of community water supply. It has also been presumed that participation is
automatically positive for women. The possible socio-economic costs involved, given the multitude of
other responsibilities women have, are normally not considered (Cleaver, 1997, 1998; Hannan, 2000).
There has been been little focus on the inherent constraints to the achievement of gender
equality goals in the institutions, structures and processes within the sector. While the assumption is that
the sector is neutral from a gender perspective, there are, in reality, a number of key biases operating in
the sector which have a dual negative impact in maintaining (or even increasing gender inequalities) and
inhibiting the achievement of sector goals ix. These biases include: general preferential attention to men as
discussants, informants and participants and discrimination against women who are also actors and
stakeholders in the sector; failure to adequately value the reproductive work of women in household water
management, leading to a perception of women's contributions as secondary and supportive rather than
central to the sector; treatment of households and communities as undifferentiated homogeneous units,
leading to the neglect of equality and power issues; and the perception of women as dependents of men
(Hannan, 2000).
4
Ecological sanitation: an alternative route to sustainable livelihoods
Over 90 percent of the sewerage in the South is discharged untreated, polluting rivers, lakes and
coastal areas and thus causing the spread of waterborne diseases (Esray and Andersson, forthcoming).
The dumping of human exreta into the sea destroys marine life and greatly reduces the potential of the
sea and coastal areas to support food security. Conventional approaches to sanitation - the "flush-anddischarge" model and the "drop-and-store" model - can cause both environmental and health problems.
The "flush-and-discharge" model wastes scarce resources of freshwater and can contaminate water
sources, causing serious health health risks (Esray and Andersson, 1999). Even the very simple "dropand-store" models, such as the pit latrines used in many parts of Africa, have their limitations and risks.
They cannot be used in areas with impenetrable ground and high water-tables or where flooding is a
problem. There is a risk that groundwater will be contaminated with pathogens from pit latrines,
threatening the water supply. Furthermore, certain disease vectors breed in humid pits causing diseases
such as filariasis, yellow fever and arboviruses (Esray and Andersson, forthcoming). Pit latrines can also
be rejected by potential users because of smells and flies. In addition, a limitation in both models is the
failure to return natural fertilizers contained in human excreta to the land which means that a valuable
resource (human excreta) which could restore depleted soils is wasted. Chemical fertilizers are then
required which, in turn, deplete other valuable resources, such as fossil fuels and phosphate. Such an
approach is not sustainable and will ultimately diminish food supplies (Esrey and Andersson, 2000a).
Ecological sanitation is an ecosystem approach to waste disposal based on three key principles that sanitation should be safe from a health perspective, "green" or non-polluting, and be based on
principles of reuse and recycling of the valuable nutrients in human excreta (Esrey and Andersson,
2000b). There are two basic techniques in ecological sanitation. One is urine-diversion, in which urine
and faeces are kept separate. In the second technique urine and faeces are combined and the product is
composted. In each type of ecological sanitation it is possible to manage urine and faeces collection with
little or no water, and it is also possible to keep the end product out of ground and surface waters (ibid).
Alternative ecological sanitation systems can make an invaluable contribution to sustainable livelihoods
and poverty reduction, including in urban areas, by increasing food security through the return of nutrients
from excreta to the soil to increase soil fertility and by reducing pollution and health risks. Such systems
also impact positively on food security through better management of scarce water resources and
contribute to health through reducing transmission of disease and increasing nutritional intake (ibid). The
compost produced can be sold or used in existing agricultural production. The establishment of home
gardens and sale of produce can be facilitated and the resulting increased income can lead to greater
nutritional well-being for families. The establishment of an ecological sanitation system can create
opportunities for local entrepreneurs to design and build toilets as well as provide training on the building
of the toilets and the use of the end product, creating further income generation potential. In addition,
these systems foster decentralized management systems, with potential for empowering people,
providing for local livelihoods and enhancing community cohesion. Ecological sanitation approaches are
far more feasible than conventional sanitation systems both financially and environmentally (ibid) and
thus offer more from a sustainable livelihood and poverty reduction perspective. This paper contends,
however, that the contribution of ecological sanitation will be significantly enhanced if gender perspectives
are an integral part of future developments.
Ecological sanitation is an attempt to move away from linear solutions of waste disposal towards
a system based on a circular flow of nutritients. It considers human excreta a resource and not a waste to
be disposed of as far away as possible. Ecological sanitation is environmentally sound - when excreta are
recovered, rendered safe, and recycled into soil, no pollution occurs and the environment is protected
(ibid).x Experience to date has shown that in some areas cultural resistance to handling and using human
excreta has to be specifically addressed. Contrary to popular misconceptions, the use of human excreta
as a fertilizer is by no means a new innovation. The use of human excreta in agriculture has a long
history. Today ecological sanitation is being tried in many areas in the South - because of high
watertables, excessive water pollution, lack of fresh water, declining ecosystems, and the high cost of
fertilizers. It is being implemented in more than half of the provinces in China and in southern India, the
Horn of Africa down into South Africa and Central America (Esrey and Andersson, 2000a). People need
to be informed / convinced that faeces can be processed and converted into humus, with all the typical
5
characteristics of humus from other sources: pleasant smelling and easy to handle (Esrey and
Andersson, 2000b).
The gender perspectives on ecological sanitation have not yet been specifically explored. Women
are actively involved in food crop production and concerned about food security in many parts of the
South and would be directly affected by increased access to soil nutrients provided through ecological
sanitation and potential for increasing food production, including through small vegetable gardens and
fruit trees close to the homes. Given women's overall prime responsibility for the health and wellbeing of
families in many areas, it could also be assumed that women would support ecological sanitation on the
basis of health gains. Women's support would also be critical because of the need to pour ashes into the
toilets after use, to dry out the faeces, increase the pH level and contribute to elimination of pathogens.
Since women have the responsibility for tending the cooking fires it can be assumed that they would
ensure a supply of ashes to be used in the latrines. Men, on the other hand, do the digging of the pits and
construction of the latrine structure and it could be assumed that men would appreciate not having to
construct a new latrine and pit each time the old pit is filled. The possibility of simply emptying the pit and
continuing to use it must be positive from a labour expenditure point of view. Both women and men need
access to cash incomes and could be assumed to welcome the potential economic benefits of ecological
sanitation, if the opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurship in construction of latrines and starting
small market gardens are be made available to both women and men.
There are also important gender perspectives on the urban agriculture linked to ecological
sanitation. Women are responsible for food security in urban areas in many countries in the South. With
urban agriculture based on ecological sanitation, families could save money by growing their own fruit
and vegetables and/or selling some of the produce. Women often have a great need for increased
sources of income but are constrained by their lesser access to formal education and training, relative to
men, and are often confined to the informal sector. Urban agriculture, as a means of ensuring greater
food security and potential supplementary income, is particularly attractive to women as it allows them to
work close to their homes and facilitates the carrying out of other important roles, such as care of
children, elderly and sick. The importance of ensuring that women as well as men are involved in
planning and decision-making on urban agriculture initiatives, and have equitable access to training and
extension services needs, however, to be emphasized.
Some concrete experiences on gender perspectives in relation to ecological sanitation are
beginning to emerge from the project level in many parts of the world. Evidence from ecological sanitation
systems in South India reveals that in areas with high water-tables where other forms of sanitation are not
feasible, ecological sanitation provides huge benefits to women and girls. xi Without access to ecological
sanitation the alternative for poor households is that all members of the households - women and men
and girls and boys - have to walk to open defecation sites (separate sites for women and men),
sometimes up to a distance of 0.5km from the household. The health risks at the defecation sites are
enormous because the human wastes are left lying around in the open. There are additional problems for
women and girls as they are only able to use these sites to urinate and defecate at dawn and dusk. This
leads to considerable discomfort and risk for urinary and other infections, particularly during menstruation.
Having ecological toilets near or in the households also reduces the risks involved for women in the walk
to the defecation sites - including the risks of physical and psychological harassment by men. The
ecological toilet in use in South India requires much less water than the more expensive alternative
favoured by more well-off families, the water flush toilets, which reduces the work burden for women in
drawing and carrying water for the toilets. Experiments are also being carried out to show that women can
benefit from the reuse of the urine for productive enterprises.xii
Experience from Zimbabwe indicates that women in rural areas prefer the ecological sanitation
alternative - the arbor loosxiii - to the conventional pit latrines as they can be built closer to the house.
Women expressed appreciation of the gains in terms of privacy and safety, particularly for children, in
night use. The use of the filled pits for planting fruit trees was also appreciated by women. Having the fruit
trees close to the house enhances the potential for tending them properly, particularly in terms of being
able to use the grey water from bathing and dish washing for watering. Men expressed appreciation of the
arbor loos because the pits are smaller than conventional pit latrines and building them requires less
labour. These findings are, however, not based on well-documented empirical data but on the observation
6
of practitioners working in the communities.xiv More well-substantiated data on the gender perspectives of
ecological sanitation needs to be provided.
Conclusions
Water and sanitation improvements should be developed within a framework that links poverty
reduction, human rights and democratic development, gender equality and maintenance of the natural
resource base. The framework must be people-centred and move beyond a focus on uses to a greater
emphasis on the users of natural resources, recognizing the poor - women and men - as actors and
change agents rather than victims (Hannan, 2000). The contributions, needs, priorities of all stakeholders,
women as well as men, should be taken into account. Alternative sanitation should be an essential
element of such a framework. Conventional linear approaches to sanitation result in the disposal of
human wastes in environmentally unsound ways and the wasting of valuable and much needed nutrients.
Two dangerous false assumptions underly the existing linear approaches. Firstly, that water and land
resources are unlimited, and secondly, that there are no limits to the capacity of the natural environment
to absorb human wastes (Esrey and Andersson, 2000b). A basic problem is the linear flows of resources
and wastes which are not reconnected. Technological innovations based on frameworks where the loop
is not closed are, in fact, part of the problem rather than the solution (ibid).
Agarwall and Narain (undated) highlighted the importance of institutions and governance issues
for natural resource management, calling for frameworks which build on traditional knowledge, technology
and regulatory mechanisms rather than on systems imposed from outside. The success of the local
institutions in the examples presented in their research was clearly related to the creation of forums which
were based on participatory rather than representative democracy, and allowed for all households
members to discuss problems, identify solutions and establish sustainable management systems. The
claims that ecological sanitation approaches will lead to decentralized management systems which foster
social cohesion and empowerment will, however, only be realized if the questions of socio-economic
equity are addressed. In particular, there is need to give greater attention to the gender perspectives in
management and governance issues linked to ecological sanitation. Ecological sanitation approaches can
only be empowering if both women and men have the possibility to influence the direction of, participate
actively in the implementation of, and benefit from, these approaches
To bring about constructive change more efforts need to be made by politicians, planners and
support agencies to better understand the gender implications of water supply and sanitation. Ways of
reaching and involving both women and men have to be developed, particularly in terms of mobilizing
women and men as agents of change and providing equitable access to economic benefits and
opportunities, such the training, entreprenueral development support and credit made available in the
context of water supply and sanitation improvements. Men need to be sensitized on the important
contributions of women in the area of water and sanitation and encouraged to provide more support to
their equitable involvement.
At the basis of a more gender-aware approach to water and sanitation improvements would be an
understanding of the sex basic Rs: The roles / responsibilities - the actual and potential contributions of
women and men in these areas and the constraints and opportunities related to these; the relations
between women and men and how these are reflected at household and community levels and sustain
differences and inequalities between women and men; the resources/rights involved and the hinders
experienced by women respective men in terms of access to and control over these resources and the
securing of rights; and the representation of women and men in decision-making processes, both formal
and informal, and the need to promote more equitable involvement of women where inequalities are
observed.
An important starting point must be the understanding that the basis for women's more equitable
involvement in ecological sanitation initiatives should not be the perception of women as vulnerable,
marginal and victims, but rather recognition of women as well as men as major stakeholders, actors and
change-agents in both households and communities.
7
References
Agarwall, A. and Narain. S. undated, ca 1999. Community and household water management: The
key to environmental regeneration and poverty alleviation, New York: UNDP (United Nations
Development Programme).
Andersson, I. 1996. Swedish support to water and sanitation in least developed countries. Lessons
learned from 30 years of development cooperation, Stockholm: Sida (Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency).
Andersson, I. et al 1991. Bryt den tekniska synen pa varldens vattenproblem. (End the technical focus
on global water problems). In: Sveriges Natur, 5:30-31.
Cleaver, F. 1998. Choice, complexity and change: Gendered livelihoods and management of water.
Journal of Agriculture and Human Values 15(4).
______1997. Gendered incentives and informal institutions: Women, men and the management of
water, University of Bradford; Development and Project Planning Centre. (Mimeo).
Cosgrove, W.J. and Rijsberman, F.R. 2000. World water vision. Making water everybody's business,
London: Earthscan Publications.
Esrey, S. 1998. Ecological sanitation, Stockholm: Sida (Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency).
______ 1996. Water, waste and wellbeing: A multi-country study. American Journal of Epidemiology
143(6):608-623.
Esrey, S. and Andersson, I. (forthcoming) Ecological sanitation - Closing the loop to food security.
New York.
______2000a. Sanitation from an eco-system approach. Paper presented by UNDP at ACC
Subcommittee on Water Resources 21 Session, 16-20 October 2000, ESCAP (Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), Bangkok, Thailand.
______2000b. Ecological sanitation - closing the loop to urban food security and wellbeing,
(Unpublished mimeo).
______1999. Poverty and the environment. Background note on policies in water and sanitation. New
York. (Unpublished mimeo).
Esray, S. et al. 1991. Effects of improved water supply and sanitation on ascariasis, diarrhoea,
dracunculkiasis, hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, and trachoma. Bulletin of the World
Health Organization 69(5):609-621.
Hannan, C. 2000. Promoting equality between women and men in bilateral development cooperation.
Concepts, goals, rationales and institutional arrangements. Part One: Theory, practice and
priorities for change, and Part Two: Empirical studies in two sectors in Tanzania: Household
water supplies and health development, Lund, Sweden: University of Lund: Department of
Economic and Social Development.
Hannan-Andersson, C. 1995a. A gender perspective on water resources management, Stockholm:
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). (Paper prepared for the
INSTRAW/DDSMS Special Event on Women and Natural Resource Management held at the
Beijing International Conference Centre, 12th September 1995)
______1995b. Gender perspectives on water resources management: Domestic water supply and
environmental sanitation. Stockhom: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
(Sida). (Paper presented at the UNICEF/INSTRAW "Women, Water and Environmental
Sanitation" held at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, China,
September 1995).
______1984. Development of water supplies in Singida Region, Tanzania. The realities for village
women, Dar es Salaam: Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dar es Salaam
(Research Report No 63).
UNICEF. 1993. Planning for health and socio-economic benefits from water and environmental
sanitation programmes, New York.
WHO/UNICEF/WSSCC - Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. 2000. Global water
supply and sanitation assessment. 2000 report, Geneva and New York.
8
Footnotes
i
Summary version of a paper prepared for the 97th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers,
February 27-March 3, 2001, New York. Session 4.1.28. Gendered Livelihoods 1: Gender Space, Work and
Development, sponsored by Geographic Perspectives on Women, Economic Geography, Asian Geography and
Qualitative Methods Specialty Groups and IGU Gender Commission
ii See: Sen, A. 1990. Gender and cooperative conflict. In: Tinker, I. Persistent inequalities, Oxford: Oxford University
Press; and Guijt, I. and Kaul-Shah, M. 1998. The myth of community. Gender issues in participatory development,
London: Intermediate Technology Publications for further discussion of assumptions on the cohesiveness of
households.
iii
This is well illustrated by the recent global assessment of the status of water supply and sanitation development
which completely ignores gender perspectives. See WHO/UNICEF/WSSCC, 2000).
iv
The authors are grateful for the insightful comments received from Steve Esray, expert on health, nutrition and
sanitation issues at UNICEF, New York.
v
See: for example, BRIDGE, 1993. Water resources management: A macro-level analysis from a gender
perspective, Sussex: Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex - An issues paper prepared by Cathy
Green and Sally Baden for the Swedish International Development Authority -SIDA , Stockholm; Cleaver, 1997, 1998;
Hannan, 2000; Hannan-Andersson, 1995a, 1995b; Poluha, E. 1993. Gender, water, environmental health - An
inventory of SIDA-supported programmes, Stockholm: Swedish International Development Authority- SIDA;
OECD/DAC, 1995.; van Wijk-Sibesma, C. 1998. Gender in water resources management, water supply and
sanitation: roles and realities revisited, The Hague: International Water and Sanitation Centre.
vi
See: United Nations, 1995. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, New York.
vii Based on communication with Paul Calvert, South India.
viii Based on the experience from field work in Kilimanjaro, Singida and Shinyanga regions carried out by Ingvar
Andersson and Carolyn Hannan.
ix
For a broad discussion of institutional biases, see: Goetz, A.-M. 1995. Macro-meso-micro linkages; Understanding
gendered institutional structures and practices. Paper prepared for the SAGA Workshop on Gender and Ecnomic
Reform in Africa, Ottawa, 1-3 October 1995.
x There are different ways to make human excreta safe for reuse and the options are partly dependent on cultural
preferences and whether or not urine is diverted away from faeces. See Esrey, S. 1998.
xi Based on communication with Paul Calvert, South India.
xii Ibid.
xiii
An ”arbor loo” is a simple form of latrine with a shallow pit, a very light ,moveable slab (and in some cases
moveable toilet superstructure). It does not involve urine separation but uses a compost approach. When the pit is
three-quarters full a new pit is dug and the slab and superstructure is moved to the new site. The old pit is filled with
topsoil in which a fruit-tree is planted. Bananas, papaya amd guava grow rapidly and produce high quality fruit in
large quantities.
xiv Based on communication with Jim Latham, Zimbabwe.